1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a manufacturing process for the electrolyte layer of solid oxide fuel cell. Especially it relates to a manufacturing process for a membrane, i.e. magnetron sputtering. It is also combined with the manufacturing process for membrane electrode assembly (MEA), like tape casting, lamination, vacuum hot pressing, screen printing, spin coating or plasma spray coating et al. and optimized sintering technology in a novel process for fully dense electrolyte to produce air-tight electrolyte layer for solid oxide fuel cell.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With rising oil price and consciousness of environmental protection, renewable energy technology has become one of the most important technological development in this century. Solid oxide fuel cell is a power generation system that has high efficiency, low pollution and diversified energy sources. Its simple material composition, modulized structure and sustainable and stable power generation ability make it the power generation system of the most potential.
Electrolyte supported cell (ESC) has its operation temperature between 800˜1000° C. Its electrolyte substrate thickness is around 150˜300 μm. This is the first generation of SOFC-MEA. Anode supported cell (ASC) has its operation temperature between 650˜800° C. Its electrolyte substrate thickness is around 10 μm. This is the second generation of SOFC-MEA. (NiO+8YSZ) (NiO, Nickel Oxide YSZ, Yttria-Stabilized Zirconta) is the anode material for ASC/ESC, while the main cathode material is LSM (Strontium doped lanthanum-magnetite) and LSCF (LSCF, Lanthanum Strontium Cobalt Ferrite) with thickness between 30˜60 μm. New electrolyte materials and cathode materials are under development in many research laboratories in the world. They all hope to develop new materials so the operation temperature for SOFC-MEA will drop to 500˜700° C. Then the components for SOFC Stack, like Inter-connector etc., can change from ceramic materials to metal materials, which are not only easy for manufacturing but also increase mechanical stability and durability, and also reduce overall cost. The development for this technology in universities and national laboratories emphasize material development and expect to develop novel materials to reduce resistance, increase ion conductivity and improve SOFC power generation.